Diaz Inks With Minnesota College

When a local high school football player signs a scholarship to attend a college or university to play the sport, no matter if it's a Division I school like the University of Florida or Florida State or a Division III school like Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn., it is a big deal.

But for Damian Diaz of Nature Coast Technical, going away to college to play football at a place that is so unbelievably cold during the winter does make Damian shudder one bit.

"I went up there on a recruiting visit in April, so I've never been there in the winter," he said. "But the coach was telling me it's no different from Florida. He said that instead of going from air conditioned room to air conditioned room, you go from heated room to heated room.

"He also told me they have tunnels under the school to get to classes and that last year it got as cold as 43 degrees below zero. So it's going to take some time to get use to it."

Diaz signed with the Division III School recently and hopes to be able to play right away for the school.

"Last year was the first time they had a .500 season in a long time," described Diaz. "And the coaches were telling me they wanted to use me as an inside linebacker."

While at Nature Coast, Diaz has played defensive end and linebacker after missing half of the season when he injured his right knee with an anterior cruciate ligament tear.

"He was our leading tackler through five games when he injured his knee on an interception return and missed the rest of the year and spring practice last year," recalled NCT Head Coach Jamie Joyner.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder missed the spring and watched as Sharks had their Kickoff Classic rained out last year. "Honestly, I was a little nervous," Diaz said. "My cousin (Springstead High football player Luis Delgado) had three of these injuries and he had a tough time coming back."

But in the Sharks first game of the year against Dunnellon, Diaz said that after being a little nervous about being able to play well, things settled down.

"Dunnellon was the toughest team I ever played against, but after that game, I was OK," commented Diaz.

His college coach took Diaz to a recruiting fair at Lake Wales High School in February. And Diaz, like a number of his teammates, found a school that he liked and that wanted him.

Why Augsburg?

"I talked to their offensive coordinator and after they saw some of my film, they invited me up for a visit. And I liked what I saw. They are a small Lutheran school and it's a lot like Nature Coast."

Joyner believes that Diaz will end up representing the school very well. "Damian is one of those players that come into a program that you just love to have," said the NCT mentor. "He's an unselfish kid, he has a tremendous work ethic, he gets good grades and he's a credit to the school."

While Diaz is undecided about what he will major in, he hopes it will be something in the business world.

"I haven't talked to them about if they will red-shirt me my freshman year, but it really doesn't matter," he said.

"I'm going into my fourth year of football and I think I've been well coached," said the recent NCT senior. "I feel pretty comfortable playing football now, so I'm not worried. The only thing that bothers me is that I'm going to be the only one from this area and I hope I can make a good impression on them early."

He also is a little concerned about the weather, especially since he's never been in Minnesota during the winter.

"I am sort of worried about it because I've never seen it before," shrugged Diaz. "But I'm sure they'll take care of me."

BY THE NUMBERS: NCT's DAMIAN DIAZ
- Compiled by TONY CASTRO

YEAR SOLO ASST TTK TFL SK QBP CF FR BLK PB INT
2006 25 36 61 2 2.0 3 0 0 0 0 0
2007 17 58 75 1 1.0 0 1 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 42 94 136 3 3.0 3 1 1 0 0 0